Skid Row was a Dublin based blues-rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, fronted by Brendan "Brush" Shiels (born in 1946, Dublin,
Ireland). It was guitarist Gary Moore's first professional band.
The band was formed in 1967, comprising Brendan 'Brush' Shiels on bass guitar (born in 1946, Dublin, Ireland - formerly of The Uptown
Band), Noel 'Nollaig' Bridgeman on drums (born in 1947, Dublin - currently with Van Morrison), Bernard 'Bernie' Cheevers on lead guitar
(born in 1948, Dublin - formerly of The Intruders), and Phil Lynott on vocals. Robbie Brennan temporarily replaced original d ...read more

Skid Row was a Dublin based blues-rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, fronted by Brendan "Brush" Shiels (born in 1946, Dublin,
Ireland). It was guitarist Gary Moore's first professional band.
The band was formed in 1967, comprising Brendan 'Brush' Shiels on bass guitar (born in 1946, Dublin, Ireland - formerly of The Uptown
Band), Noel 'Nollaig' Bridgeman on drums (born in 1947, Dublin - currently with Van Morrison), Bernard 'Bernie' Cheevers on lead guitar
(born in 1948, Dublin - formerly of The Intruders), and Phil Lynott on vocals. Robbie Brennan temporarily replaced original drummer
Bridgeman until June 1969 and Cheevers was replaced by the 16-year-old Gary Moore in early 1968, and the band recorded a single, "New
Places, Old Faces" / "Misdemeanour Dream Felicity", for the Irish 'Song Records' label (the only released recording of Lynott with Skid
Row). Later that year Shiels dropped Lynott from the line-up, converting Skid Row to a power trio by making Sheils the lead vocalist. By way
of compensation, Shiels gave him a bass guitar he had bought from former musician Robert Ballagh for £49 in 1967 while with the Uptown
Band, he taught Lynott to play bass, and after a stint with 'Orphanage' Lynott went on to international fame as founder, bassist and vocalist
for Thin Lizzy. The band recorded a second single for 'Song', "Saturday Morning Man" / "Mervyn Aldridge". These two singles, plus three
tracks from a BBC recording, were issued on the 'Hux' label as Live and on Song in April 2006. At the end of 2006 a number of Skid Row
demo tapes featuring Phil Lynott were discovered. These were his earliest recordings (from 1968) and had been presumed lost for decades.
With the returning Bridgeman, Skid Row played support to some of the great rock groups of the 1960s, including Fleetwood Mac in January
1970. Moore was influenced by the Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green, who was in turn impressed by Moore's guitar playing and
introduced him to the Columbia/CBS record company. A third single, "Sandie’s Gone (Part 1)" / "Sandie’s Gone (Part 2)", was released on
the band's new label in April 1970, and a number of sessions and concerts were also recorded for the BBC during this period. The band
released its first album Skid, in October 1970. A second LP, entitled 34 Hours - so called because it took them a mere 34 hours to record it
- was released in early 1971, preceded by the single "Night Of The Warm Witch" / "Mr. De-Luxe". Skid Row performed on the legendary
German TV music show Beat Club on 18 March 1971. There were short tours of Europe (October 1970, with Canned Heat) and of the USA
(October/November 1970 and August and October 1971). A widely bootlegged show billed as 'The Whiskey, Los Angeles, August 5, 1970',
and featuring John Bonham as a guest, is more likely from August 1971. A third album was recorded in the Autumn of 1971 but Moore left
the band in December 1971 just before another planned US tour. He was temporarily replaced by Eric Bell (from Thin Lizzy) for some live
appearances before Paul Chapman became the bands full-time guitarist. Moore later played with Thin Lizzy, replacing Eric Bell. Chapman
overdubbed Moore's guitar tracks on the unreleased album but neither version was made public for almost twenty years. As the band
faltered, Chapman left in July 1972 (later joining UFO). Shiels then teamed with drummer John Wilson (ex-Them, Taste and Stud) and future
Sparks guitarist Adrian Fisher to form a band named simply 'Brush'.
Skid Row reformed in Ireland in 1973, initially with Shiels, Wilson, singer Eamonn Gibney (ex-Alyce) and guitarist Ed Deane, later adding
keyboard player Kevin McAlea. The Shiels/Deane/Wilson line-up released the single "Dublin City Angels" / "Slow Down" (in 1971 according
to Deane's website, but this seems too early). John Wilson was replaced by Paddy Freeney before the band split again in early 1974. For the
next few months Shiels played in the 'Bell-Brush Band' with Eric Bell and Timmy Creedon (drums, ex-Orphanage), sometimes joined by
Eamonn Gibney. At the end of the year Shiels, Moore and Bridgeman briefly reunited for a series of gigs, and a 1975 line-up of Shiels
(guitar/vocals), Bridgeman, Jimi Slevin (lead guitar/vocals, ex-Alyce, ex-Peggy's Leg) (born June 1950, Dublin), Timmy Creedon (second
drummer/vocals) and Johann Brady (bass) recorded the Skid Row single "The Spanish Lady" / "Elvira". In 1976 Jody Pollard (guitar, ex.
Elmer Fudd) replaced Pat O'Farrell in a line-up with Shiels (vocals/mandolin), Bridgeman (drums), John Brady (bass) and Dave Gaynor
(drums), recording the Phil Lynott-produced double A-sided single "Coming Home Again" / "Fight Your Heart Out" and unreleased track
"Skid Row Flashback". The 1976 double-disc live album of Rock n' Roll standards Alive And Kickin featured Shiels, Bridgeman, Brady,
Pollard, Gaynor and Ian Anderson. In 1978 Pollard rejoined, this time replacing Eric Bell alongside Shiels, Bridgeman, Brady and Joe
Staunton (guitar, ex-Orphanage). Skid Row had little commercial success outside Ireland and the UK, although Skid reached #30 on the UK
Albums Chart. More of their recorded material was released between 1990 and 2006.
In 1987 Moore sold the name 'Skid Row' to the American heavy metal band for $35,000. Sebastian Bach: "When (Skid Row) got signed to
Atlantic, Gary Moore heard about it and said we could have the name for $35,000 U.S. dollars. 'We have to pay Gary Moore 35 grand to use
the name,' and so we, as a band, did buy the name from Gary Moore. We were all glad to do it because it is a great name for a band. I
remember saying, 'Wow, that's a lot of $, but we gotta do it!'" Shiels has said that he has always been unhappy at the group 'stealing their
name', and said of their manager Doc Magee, "he could be Doc Marten for all I know...but he's going to get a kick up the arse". He still
occasionally performs as 'Brush Shiels' Skid Row', as recently as February 2005. Bridgeman went on to perform studio work with Clannad,
The Waterboys and Altan.
Brush Shiels returned to his Skid Row legacy once more releasing Mad Dog Woman (originally titled Skid Row Revisited) - an album of new
material and re-recordings of Skid Row songs - through his website in June 2009. He also thanked the other Skid Row "for the generosity of
spirit in acknowledging the contribution of the original Skid Row" by using the name. « hide